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2 Shillings
| Issuer | Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper note of typewritten format, entirely unadorned by vignette or guilloche, with the issuing authority title in underlined block capitals at top centre and the charge clause set out in typewritten text across the central field. The denomination TWO SHILLINGS appears in bold underlined capitals at centre, flanked on each side by the numeral notation 2s. 0d., with the date 1st January, 1942 at lower left. Two manuscript signatures appear at lower right, attributed to the Acting Resident Commissioner and the Treasurer respectively. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLANDS COLONY THIS NOTE REPRESENTS A CHARGE UPON THE FUNDS OF THE GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLANDS COLONY GOVERNMENT IN THE SUM OF TWO SHILLINGS 2s. 0d. Acting Resident Commissioner. Treasurer. |
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| Comments |
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony issued this note under wartime emergency conditions, part of a small series authorized when Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands in late 1941–early 1942, severing normal supply lines and making coin shipments from Britain effectively impossible. The surviving colonial administration, operating from Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, needed something to keep commerce functioning.
The series is genuinely rare. Low original print runs, a small island population, tropical humidity, and wartime destruction all worked against survival. The 1942 Gilbert and Ellice emergency issues are among the scarcest Pacific colonial notes, and the 2 Shillings denomination consistently proves harder to find than the lower values.